NETFLIX, SKY/NOW, DISNEY+, BRITBOX, DISCOVERY+ & GLOBE PLAYER
The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, of her own screenplay, is an adaptation of the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name. Olivia Colman portrays Leda, an awkward and grumpy socially awkward academic, on holiday in Greece alone.
When the tranquillity is disrupted by the arrival of a large, noisy extended family of tourists, Leda’s involvement with one of their number, a harassed young mother (Dakota Johnson), awakens memories of parenthood and her experiences with her two daughters.
Gyllenhaal has proven to be as bold a director than she is an actress. The film, which is terrifying, features great performances by Colman Johnson and Jessie Buckley as the young Leda. Netflix, starting Friday
Olivia Colman, above, is Leda. She is a lonely, awkward and grumpy academic, on holiday on a tranquil Greek island.
JFK: Destiny Betrayed
Having already directed the epic movie JFK, Oliver Stone returns to the subject for this four-part documentary which, it’s claimed, offers new insights into the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.
Oliver Stone has directed JFK and returns as the director for this documentary. It offers new insight on Kennedy’s assassination.
The project also reunites Stone with one of the movie’s stars, Donald Sutherland, who, along with Whoopi Goldberg, provides the series’ narration. Sky from Tuesday
Mare Of Easttown
This seven-part drama, set in an urban working class town in Pennsylvania, was a TV show highlight for many. Kate Winslet plays Detective Mare Sheehan. She is investigating the death of a teenager girl and dealing with personal difficulties.
Winslet’s mantelpiece is already groaning under the weight of awards, but she is sure to bag more for this, arguably a career-best performance, while Evan Peters as Mare’s smitten police partner and Jean Smart as her sarcastic mother are also a joy to watch.
Quite an achievement to have a show featuring both some of 2021’s most harrowing scenes and some of its most hilarious. Sky/NOW, available now
Stay close
Several of Harlan Coben’s pacy thrillers have been adapted for Netflix, as part of a 14-show deal, in Spanish (The Innocent) and Polish (The Woods), but those in English – Safe and The Stranger – are more gripping, with fine casts.
Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage, and James Nesbitt star in this eight-episode series. This twisty story of lies and secrets concerns a detective investigating a cold case (Nesbitt), an unsuccessful photojournalist (Armitage), as well as a mother-of-three who is working (Jumbo).
Netflix, starting Friday
The Flight Attendant
When the hard-partying, flirtatious flight attendant Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) wakes to find that the man she tumbled into bed with the night before is covered in blood and dead and she can’t remember what happened, she flees in a panic.
By her own admission, Cassie (Kaley Cuoco, above) is a ‘public nudity, yelling on the subway drunk’ rather than a slit-a-guy’s-throat kind of drunk
By her own admission, Cassie is a ‘public nudity, yelling on the subway drunk’ rather than a slit-a-guy’s-throat kind of drunk, so finding out what really happened is at the heart of this fast-moving, fun, eight-part black comedy with a hint of Hitchcock.
Sky, available now
A Hidden Life
The release of a new Terrence Malick production is something of an event – he’s directed only ten films in a 48-year career.
This epic, historical drama starring Michael Nyqvist is the premiere of his latest effort.
A Hidden Life follows the story of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter, a devout Catholic who refused to fight for the Nazis. Valerie Pachner, above) is also a star
The plot follows the story of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), a devout Catholic who refused to fight for the Nazis. Valerie Pachner. Disney+, Friday
Your Honor
When Adam Desiato (Hunter Doohan) kills another teenager in a car accident, he doesn’t stick around.
His father Michael (Bryan Cranston) – a judge – persuades him to turn himself in but quickly changes his mind when he discovers the dead boy’s father is the local mafia boss. He and Adam can they cover up the hit-and run? Sky/NOW, available now
Globe Player
A chance to view stage productions through Shakespeare’s Globe’s on-demand service.
The repertoire includes all the shows from last summer, plus 12 other productions such as the award-winning, all-male Twelfth Night from 2012 starring Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, and Gemma Arterton in 2014’s The Duchess Of Malfi.
player.shakespearesglobe.com; £59.99 a year or £9.99 per show
Classic Films
All New BritBox are some cinematic favourites.
Hitchcock’s 1964 movie Marnie, starring Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren, plus the master of suspense’s lesser-known work Saboteur (1942), in which an aircraft-factory worker is wrongly accused of murder.
You can also find an earlier version Mary, Queen of Scots. This 1971 film stars Vanessa Redgrave playing the doomed Mary. Glenda Jackson (above), plays Elizabeth.
An earlier version of Mary, Queen Of Scots from 1971 stars Vanessa Redgrave as the doomed Mary and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth; Jackson also features in 1973’s The Nelson Affair, as the vulgar Lady Hamilton to Peter Finch’s Nelson.
Plus there’s the 1933 version of The Invisible Man starring Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart and John Carradine. Beginning Thursday
Peter Crouch: Save Our Beautiful Game
In 2000, while still in his teens, the England future striker spent a time on loan at Dulwich Hamlet FC.
This documentary, which consists of eight parts, follows the progress of his return to the club as director. He hopes to use his coaching skills to propel them up the football pyramid.
The eight-part documentary tracks Peter Crouch (above), as he makes his return to Dulwich Hamlet FC in the role of director.
Crouch also hopes his international experience will come in handy, although one wishes he’ll stop short of any robotic dancing goal celebrations…
Discovery+, starting Tuesday
Death to 2021
Charlie Brooker’s Death To 2020 was a humorous look at the year that many people would rather forget.
It went down well with viewers, so he’s taken the same mock-the-year approach to the past 12 months, poking fun at numerous situations and news stories.
he cast is to die for – watch out for Hugh Grant, Tracey Ullman, Lucy Liu, Nick Mohammed, Stockard Channing and Brooker’s old mate, Diane Morgan.
Netflix available starting Monday
Suicide Squad
The tenth film in the DC Extended Universe is a direct sequel to 2016’s very similarly titled Suicide Squad.
A task force made up of supervillains must once again solve a difficult situation involving an alien starfish called Starro the Conqueror. It’s fair to assume that it’s not based on a true story.
Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone and Viola Davis star, but it’s Margot Robbie (above) who steals the show again as the crazed Harley Quinn
Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone and Viola Davis star, but it’s Margot Robbie who steals the show again as the crazed Harley Quinn. Sky/NOW, starting Sunday
Star Wars: The Book Of Boba Fett
A Star Wars legend and the galaxy’s most legendary bounty hunter is finally getting his own show, after making a surprise cameo in Chapter 14 of The Mandalorian.
Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and Fennec Shand, a mercenary (Ming Na Wen), return to Tatooine (the land once ruled over by Jabba The Hutt) to invade the galaxy’s underworld to stake claim to the territory.
Disney+, Wednesday
The White Lotus
A humorous social comedy about the interactions between three groups of guests and staff at an exclusive resort in Hawaii.
Armond (Murray Bartlett), who manages The White Lotus’s operations, becomes frustrated by the demands of spoilt vacationmakers such as Alexandra Daddario. They drive him back into drug addiction.
Armond, the manager at The White Lotus is becoming frustrated by the demands made him by spoilt vacationers like Alexandra Daddario (above).
Olivia Sweeney, student at the University of Sydney (Sydney Sweeney), is perhaps the most obnoxious guest. She loses her performative wokeness when it comes to having to make an individual sacrifice. Sky/NOW, available now
Yellowjackets
This is a late entry to one of the most memorable shows of the year. In one timeline we follow a girls’ soccer team in 1996 on their way to a tournament when the plane comes down in a remote part of the Rockies.
The second follows some survivors of present-day America as they hide a horrible secret. Sky/NOW, available now
Gomorrah
It returns to its fifth season of the dark but highly popular Italian drama about Neapolitan criminal gangsters.
Even though the show was popular with Sky viewers, there are still some issues. According to Naples’ mayor, violent crime rose in Naples when the show was broadcast. Some even believe it glorifies gangsters. Sky/NOW, available now
BBC iPLAYER and ITV HUB, as well as TALKING PICTURES TV
The Girl Before
You can’t complain about the fine cast in this tense psychological thriller adapted from the best-selling novel by J.P. Delaney.
This movie stars Gugu Mabatha-Raw (Belle), and David Oyelowo (A United Kingdom). Jane is a Hollywood star who moves into a ultra-minimalist house built by Oyelowo. Oyelowo is an eccentric architect, who values his pickiness at all costs.
You can’t complain about the fine cast, including Jessica Plummer (above), in this tense psychological thriller
The house has one staircase without a banister, so the occupants must follow his bizarre rules. Uh-oh. Jane discovers some information about Emma, Jessica Plummer’s predecessor. BBC iPlayer, available now
Des
This is a chilling three-parter on Dennis Nilsen, the serial killer. His drains became clogged from rotting flesh.
David Tennant plays the psychopath and narcissist David Tennant. Daniel Mays is DCI Peter Jay who is leading the investigation. This is a disturbing and compelling portrait of the true nature of evil. ITV Hub, available now
Black Narcissus
Three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden’s novel about nuns battling illicit desires and temptations in a remote outpost in the Himalayas.
In remote Black Narcissus, the Himalayas, nuns fight illicit temptations and desires. Gemma Arterton and Alessandro Nivola are stars
It had a tough act to follow in the classic 1947 Powell and Pressburger movie, but it’s pretty good in its own right and the terrific cast includes Gemma Arterton and Alessandro Nivola. BBC iPlayer, up to Wednesday
The Serpent
The Serpent details Charles Sobhraj’s crimes, which included the murder of at least 12 backpackers in India, Thailand, and Nepal between 1975-1976. Herman Knippenberg in Bangkok, who was a junior diplomat, finally dismantled his web of crimes.
Jenna Coleman and Tahar Rahim star in this tense drama about true crime. BBC iPlayer, available now
All set to play
When the world is so dark and bleak, big sci-fi stars in 2045. They set out to discover a series of keys hidden within a vast digital gaming universe.
It’s loud, derivative, CGI-heavy and packed with nods to other films and popular culture. BBC iPlayer, starting Friday
Talking Pictures TV Encore
Can’t get enough of classic old films and TV series? Like Margaret Lockwood and David Niven? Talking Pictures TV started its online catch-up in 2015 and has since launched it.
Get it now tptvencore.co.ukYou can also find exclusive online content and old favorites such as Saturday Morning Pictures.
Noughts + crosses
Malorie Blackman’s novels are brought brilliantly to life in this six-part dystopian drama series. This alternate London takes place 700 years after the colonization of Europe by the powerful West African Empire.
Malorie Blackman’s novels are brought brilliantly to life in this six-part dystopian drama series starring Masali Baduza (above) and Jack Rowan
Black people, known as Crosses, rule over white ‘Noughts’, and against this backdrop, two people from opposite sides fall in love, placing them both in grave danger.
Masali Baduza, Jack Rowan and Stormzy star in the role of newspaper editors. BBC iPlayer, available now